Two Nigerians, Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu, a former senior immigration services officer with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and Adeniyi Akeem Somoye, have been arrested in the United States over an alleged scheme to receive illegal payments in exchange for manipulating and expediting immigration applications.
United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Ryan Raybould, announced the arrests, saying the two men were allegedly involved in a multi-year scheme to receive illegal gratuities from immigration applicants.
A federal criminal complaint filed on August 31 charged Ganiyu and Somoye with conspiracy to receive illegal gratuities by a public official.
Federal agents arrested both men on September 2.
“Selling immigration benefits for cash is a blatant abuse of public trust,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould.
